Did I do a mistake?

Cycling a tank with a fish isn't necessarily that bad and does have its benefits such as a steady waste cycle, however, rock is perhaps a more humane manner to proceed with.

As far as why you experience an ammonia spike, you added the two clowns and the base rock too quickly. The base rock will have some organic material on it that will decay and cause a new mini cycle. By adding 50lbs at one time and the fish, your biological filter couldn't keep up and thus the ammonia spike. Luckily the clowns are pretty hardy so keep an eye on them and your parameters.

Also, I don't know why sollie7 told you to get rid of the damsel and you listened without any sort of an explanation. In some situations, it may be wise to do that, but many other times there's no need. IMO, in this situation, there was no need. Anyways, it sounds like you are taking this seriously and also taking your time with this hobby. You will be rewarded for that. You will need to wait until this new cycle finishes, then you can continue adding livestock, but slowly. If you plan on adding more rock, either add it slowly over time or cycle it in a container and then add it. Good luck with the tank.

 

Get a ammonia monitor / alert like this one - Aquarium Water Quality & Testing: Seachem Ammonia Alert Device and prepare to do water change if ammonia spikes out of control. Your clowns will probably be ok in not-so-perfect water.

 

The rock was dry and I rinse it and brush it with a toothbrush.
Thanks for answering my questions.
Hearing from people like you guys that have been doing this for a while make me feel better.
Thanks again

 

Marie

you had a damsel fish in for X amount of weeks - the bacteria you had was enough to process the waste of that Damsel

you add 2 clowns so your waste is tripled , but for a short period you dont have enough bacteria to deal with these additional wastes

question - was the damsel removed before the clowns where added - because if you had a week or 2 without a fish in there after the cycle , your bacteria numbers would have decreased due to lack of food for them

what you describing is typical - bacteria takes a while (its quick but not instant) to increase its population at pace with each addition

adding 2 clowns at once - which is the correct thing to to with clowns, means your waste tripled and your bacteria needs a bit of time to catch up thats all

Steve

 

I disagree, IMO, its a combination of both.

I would not do a water change now, I would wait until this mini-cycle is over, then do
one.

Agreed, even if it was dry, it still more likely then not contained organic material that will cause another cycle. I've cycled pure, dry base rock in a container and reached high ammonia levels, even after I scrubbed it.

 

I took my Damsel back because he was nipping at my clowns.
So for the water change i take it I should wait if its a mini cycle? Is that right?

 

Oh, ok, and yea, I would wait until your parameters are back to 0 for ammonia and nitrite, other wise, it's a waste of salt IMO as you will probably just prolong the cycle further.

 

I just like the idea of getting at least somewhat-decent bacterial base before fish go in so the tank can build up to an equilibrium quicker so it's less stress for the fish.

 

So when thing settle back to normal, when exactly will I be ok to do a water change.
Should my params be at 0 for a week or more?

 

I would wait at least a few days to make sure things have leveled out. Then you can do a water change if you want, although nothing says you need to do one then. Just remember that you need to add livestock to the tank slowly. Even dry rock will cause some sort of mini-cycle, so just be aware of that.